GOLD & AZURE

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 11: THE TABLE OF LEOPARDS AND THE WALLS THAT HAVE EARS

PART I: THE BANQUET OF CHAOS – ELOWEN

Walking through the corridors of the Quartz Palace was an ordeal, no longer just because of my still-shaky legs, but because of the sensory overload I was experiencing. For the first time in thirteen years, the sensation of fabric against my skin was not an assault. Sacha and the handmaidens had worked wonders, and the contrast with the coarse rags of the Dark Moon was almost painfully beautiful.

I wore a gown of deep midnight blue, the Barsky blue, tailored from a silk velvet so heavy and soft it seemed to absorb the muffled sounds of the palace. At the collar and cuffs, a trim of white ermine fur, of an indecent softness, caressed my skin with every movement. It was an intoxicating, almost surreal sensation; I had forgotten that clothing could be a protection rather than an instrument of torture. My feet, so long accustomed to cold stone and chilblains, were nestled in supple leather shoes lined with wool, so comfortable I felt as though I were walking on clouds.

But the greatest change weighed against my sternum. My medallion. It was no longer hidden in a worn-out sole or a dirty hem. It hung proudly from a solid gold chain, its central stone catching the glint of the chandeliers. Feeling it there, in plain sight, gave me a sense of composure I never would have thought possible.

Thalys’s hand, firmly placed in the small of my back, acted as a thermal anchor. His warmth radiated through the velvet, reminding me that I was no longer a shadow.

“Breathe, Elowen,” he whispered in my ear. “They’re loud, but they don’t bite. Well, not all of them. And never without my signal.”

“I say we should show our fangs right away,” Soleia interjected with a feline purr in my mind. “Look at us, kiddo. We look like a queen. Head high!”

We reached the massive doors of the dining hall. Even before they opened, a wall of sound hit me. Boisterous laughter, the shouts of children, and the frantic clatter of cutlery. Thalys pushed the doors open, and silence fell... for exactly three seconds.

“There she is!” cried a woman’s voice, joyful and piercing.

I blinked. A monumental table groaned under the weight of roast reindeer and pitchers of mead. Around it, the entire Barsky clan watched me.

“Elowen, meet my family,” Thalys announced in a tone intended to be solemn.

The whirlwind of introductions began. I tried to memorize the faces: Xander, the eldest after Thalys, with an amused gaze; followed by Matveï and young Maxim, who seemed more interested in his plate than in diplomacy.

Then came the elder sisters, and Thalys paused to introduce them.

The stunning Anastasia stepped forward first. She towered over her sisters, her slender silhouette possessing an aristocratic grace. She wore a gown of deep emerald green, the heavy fabric falling in impeccable pleats, contrasting with her porcelain complexion. Her polar-blonde hair was not braided but pulled into a high, smooth, and severe bun that accentuated her imperial bearing. She exuded a subtle scent of white tea and bergamote, a fresh, sophisticated fragrance that discouraged any immediate familiarity.

Just behind her, Olga growled softly as she adjusted the hilt of a dagger fastened to her belt, clearly uncomfortable in formal attire. She was the flip side of Anastasia’s coin: sturdier, with the broad, square shoulders of one who had wielded shield and axe since childhood. Instead of a flowing dress, she wore a fitted burgundy velvet tunic over supple leather trousers. Her hair was no longer cut short but disciplined into a multitude of warrior braids tight against her skull, a practical style for combat. She smelled of smoked cedar, cold iron, and a hint of musk: the raw scent of the royal guard.

Finally, the inseparable eighteen-year-old twins, Mia and Béa, brought up the rear, devouring me with their eyes with ill-disguised pride.

There was also Karl, Thalys’s Beta, a broad-shouldered man accompanied by his wife, Vera, as well as Anton, the Gamma, whose sharp gaze contrasted with the gentleness of his wife, Sacha, the healer who had treated me.

“Don’t worry, she won’t remember a thing for at least three banquets!” Xander guffawed, clapping his brother on the back.

That wasn’t counting the swarm of children, the offspring of Anton and Sacha, and those of other clan members—who swirled around the room.

“Uncle Thalys! Does she really have a magic medallion?” asked a little boy, trying to climb onto my chair. “Papa said she was a wolf, but she’s all soft!”

“Because Elowen is a precious guest and the future Queen,” Sacha intervened, scooping up her son with an apologetic smile toward me. “Come on, everyone to the table!”

The meal was a joyful chaos. Between Matveï’s hunting stories and the twins’ teasing, for the first time, I felt surrounded by the raw, warm strength of the leopards. For someone who had known only the silence of cells, this life was almost dizzying.

PART II: THE WALLS HAVE EARS – THALYS

Dinner had ended in a cacophony of spoons and bursts of laughter. But as the servants began to clear the large silver platters, the air suddenly seemed to cool. The time for relaxation was over; the time for strategy had begun.

I stood up with a gesture intended to be final. Immediately, Anastasia straightened, smoothing the folds of her emerald dress. Her eyes, a blue as sharp as frost, landed on Mia and Béa, who were preparing, with suspicious enthusiasm, to follow us toward the private wing.

“One moment, little ones,” Anastasia intervened. Her voice was calm but carried that natural authority that even our brothers dared not challenge head-on.

Mia and Béa stopped dead, like two kittens caught with their paws in the cream jar.

“Sacha is going to need hands to sort herbs and supervise the kitchen cleanup after such chaos,” Anastasia continued, stepping toward them. “You have already shown bravery by bringing Elowen back, but tonight’s meeting concerns border security. This is no place for adolescent games. Go help in the kitchen.”

“But Ana!” Mia protested, her cheeks flushing. “We’re eighteen! We’re adults!”

“And we survived a snowstorm to save her!” Béa added, crossing her arms over her chest. “We deserve to hear what’s going to happen.”

Anastasia placed a lace-gloved hand on Béa’s shoulder, her scent of white tea and bergamote acting as a reminder of their hierarchy.

“What you deserve is to not be in the middle of a diplomatic conflict before you’ve finished your tracking training. To the kitchen. Now.”

She turned to me with an imperial nod. I couldn’t help but smile inwardly. Anastasia knew how to run the palace with an iron fist while I led the pack. I signaled for Elowen to follow me, while the twins remained standing in the middle of the room, looking devastated.

But I knew my sisters. The silence that followed was not one of submission. It was one of premeditation.

THE BARSKY SECRET

As soon as the double doors closed on the group of elders, Mia turned to Béa. They didn’t need to speak; their twin bond did the work.

“In the kitchen, huh?” Mia whispered with a predatory grin. “She’s dreaming.”

“She always forgets that we know this palace better than she knows her own dressing room,” Béa replied, already dusting herself off. “Come on, before Sacha actually catches us peeling the tubers.”

They slipped through a hidden door behind a tapestry depicting the first Barsky hunt. Once in the service corridor, they didn’t run toward the kitchens. They climbed a narrow, dusty spiral staircase that led to their private quarters.

There, under a loose floorboard beneath Mia’s bed, they pulled out their treasure: The Shadow Map of the Palace.

It was a yellowed, fragile parchment covered in children’s scribbles that had grown more refined over the years. This quartz palace was immense, a labyrinth of stone and crystal built by generations of leopards. But since the death of their parents when they were just babies, many corners have been forgotten. Their parents, the former Alphas, had loved architecture and secrets. They had left behind a network of passages designed for protection... or espionage.

“The ‘Quartz Ear’ passage,” Mia pointed out. “It starts in the attic and drops right behind the library in Thalys’s office.”

“Is that the one where we trapped Matveï’s cat last summer?” Béa asked with a grimace. “There’s a ton of dust in there.”

“It’s the price to pay for info, Béa. Imagine if what they’re saying concerns the Dark Moon. We can’t stay in the dark.”

They ducked into a small hatch hidden in the ceiling of a closet. The passage was oppressive, a narrow vein between two granite walls. The silence here was total, broken only by the rustle of their clothes and the beating of their leopard hearts. Mia held a small luminescent stone that cast dancing shadows on the walls.

“Do you remember what Mom wrote in her journal?” Mia whispered. ”The palace listens to those who know how to be silent. We’re the only ones who still use these paths. Even Thalys has forgotten they exist.”

“That’s because he’s too busy playing the serious Alpha,” Béa grumbled, nearly tripping over a stone root. “Watch out, it’s getting narrower.”

They had to crawl for several meters, their elbows scraping against raw quartz. Occasionally, a slit in the wall allowed them to see glimpses of illuminated corridors, but they didn’t stop. They finally arrived at the office. A wrought-iron grate, cleverly hidden behind a row of ancient encyclopedias in the office below, let the voices through.

THE SECRET COUNCIL

Below, the atmosphere was heavy. Grouped around my desk were Xander, Matveï, Maxim, Anastasia, and Olga. Karl and Anton remained near the door, while Sacha had settled near Elowen, who looked exhausted but attentive.

“Right,” I began, spreading a map across the ironwood desk. “Let’s talk about this Elara. This ‘fur trader’ was lurking in the village near the Biting Frost. Anton, your report?”

“She isn’t trying to sell with much enthusiasm, Alpha,” the Gamma replied in a low voice. “My spies saw her observing the convoys entering the northern border. She only sells mediocre skins, but she asks very specific questions about ‘new arrivals.’ She is looking for ‘THE CURSED ONE.’"

“If she comes from the South,” Xander interjected, his face marked by concern, “she could be the first sign of an invasion. The Dark Moon Pack never lets its trophies escape.”

“I have a radical plan,” Maxim cut in, his voice full of the arrogance of a twenty-year-old. “We snatched her. A bag over her head, an interrogation in the cellar, and we’ll quickly know if she works for Krane or if she’s just an opportunist.”

“Always so subtle, Maxim,” Olga sighed, her hand playing with one of her braids. “If she’s an emissary, you’ll start a war. If she’s an ally of Elowen’s, you break any chance of cooperation.”

“Olga is right,” Anastasia added, her scent of snow lilies seeming to fill the room despite the tension. “We cannot act like barbarians. We need to finesse. A routine patrol to inspect her goods, perhaps?”

In the conduit, Mia and Béa looked at each other.

“They’re all completely off base,” Mia whispered in her sister’s ear. “Elara will spot a patrol from three kilometers away. If she isn’t stupid.”

“We should go down and tell them,” Béa suggested.

“No! Anastasia would put us on chore duty for a month. Just listen.”

Below, Karl, the Beta, spoke up.

“The problem is that Elowen is recognizable. If we use her as bait, we risk her life. But if we don’t act, this Elara will eventually send a message.”

Elowen distractedly stroked the blue velvet on her sleeve.

“Elara... that name...” she murmured. “In my home, emissaries often bear the names of flowers. It’s a tradition. If that’s what she is, she will only speak to someone she deems trustworthy. Not to warriors in armor.”

Suddenly, in the secret passage, disaster struck. A quartz spider, tiny but very hairy, descended from the ceiling and landed right on the tip of Béa’s nose.

Béa hated spiders. More than overcooked roast reindeer. More than Anastasia’s strategy lessons.

She felt her sinuses contract. The dust of accumulated centuries in the conduit didn’t help. Her eyes welled up.

“Hiiii... Hiiii...” she squeaked desperately, trying to plug her nose with her hand.

“Béa, no!” Mia hissed, her eyes wide with horror.

Below, I stopped mid-sentence. My leopard ears twitched. A scuffing sound. A held breath.

“HIIII-TCHOO!”

The sneeze exploded in the conduit, echoing through the ventilation grate like a cannon shot. A deathly silence fell over the office. Karl put his hand on the hilt of his sword. Olga leaped to her feet.

I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. I knew that sneezing frequency. I had heard it for eighteen years.

“Mia. Béa.”

My voice was low, dangerous, but tinged with a weariness that only big brothers can truly understand.

“Get out of that wall before I ask Anton to smoke the passage to flush out the parasites.”

A muffled groan rose from behind the library. Then, with a piteous creak, a section of the woodwork pivoted. The twins appeared, literally covered in dust bunnies and spiderwebs. Béa had a red nose, and Mia was desperately trying to smooth her messy hair.

Anastasia stood up, her emerald dress rustling with indignation.

“You were supposed to be in the kitchen!”

“We got lost?” Mia tried with an angelic smile that failed completely.

“The kitchens are not behind the Alpha’s office library, Mia,” Olga retorted, though a glint of amusement shone in her warrior eyes.

“Your plans are terrible!” Béa suddenly exploded, forgetting her fear in the rush of adrenaline. “You talk about patrols and kidnappings, but if this Elara is a spy, she’ll see Karl coming with his heavy boots from ten leagues away!”

“And what do the ‘experts’ propose?” I asked, crossing my arms, waiting for them to dig themselves deeper.

“Us,” Mia said with poise. “Two rich, spoiled, silly girls who want to sell jewelry to buy silk from the South. We go to the tavern, we act like airheads, and this Elara will confide in us because we look like nothing. We’re the best spies you have, Thal. Because nobody takes us seriously. Not even our own family.”

A silence weighed on the room. I saw Anastasia preparing to snap back, but Elowen stopped her with a gentle hand.

“They’re right, Thalys,” the wolf said, her golden eyes shining with a new light. “Krane fears strength. He never suspects youth.”

I looked at my two little sisters. They were covered in filth, disobedient, and impetuous, but they had that Barsky fire that even the dust of centuries couldn’t smother.

“Very well,” I finally conceded, causing Xander to gasp in surprise. “But if you make a single mistake, you’ll spend the winter scrubbing the kennels. Without magic. And without sneezing.”

“Deal!” they shouted in unison, their eyes already bright with the excitement of the mission.

As the meeting dispersed, Elowen approached me, the blue of her dress blending into the shadow of my desk.

“You have an incredible family, Thalys. A bit chaotic, but incredible.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” I murmured, taking her hand. “Tomorrow, the chaos wears jewelry and goes to the tavern. And I hope the world is ready for the Barsky twins.”